Howard Leibowitz, Aide to 2 Boston Mayors, Dies at 63

Boston City Hall Image by Wikimedia Commons
BOSTON — Howard Leibowitz, an influential behind-the-scenes aide to two Boston mayors and a leader in Jewish causes, has died.
Leibowitz died suddenly of a heart attack on Sunday. He was 63.
Leibowitz, a Brandeis University graduate, was recalled as a passionate strategist and advocate for the homeless, fair housing and racial justice. He brought a tireless and innovative advocacy to Jewish and universal causes.
He was a board member of the Jewish Alliance for Social Justice, which had planned to honor him on Jan. 24 for a lifetime of service.
“Although he wasn’t religious, he devoted his life to tikkun olam,” or repairing the world, his lifelong friend Peter Dreier, a professor at Occidental College, wrote in the Huffington Post. “There are millions of Americans — around the country and in Boston — whose lives were improved by Howard’s work, even though they didn’t know him or don’t even know his name.”
Sheila Decter, executive director of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, told the Boston Globe that Leibowitz “was a wonderful enabler and facilitator and didn’t need any credit” for his work.
Leibowitz started out at Boston City Hall in 1987 as a housing adviser in the then-new administration of Mayor Ray Flynn. Noted for his political acumen, imaginative strategies and ability to connect with people from all walks of life, Leibowitz was tapped as Flynn’s director of intergovernmental relations.
He remained for many years in the succeeding administration of the late Tom Menino, and helped both mayors become nationally recognized leaders.
“Howard represented all that is good and decent about politics: honesty, kindness and loyalty,” Flynn told the Boston Globe. “His agenda was about helping people and the values of social and economic justice.”
Since April, Leibowitz worked for Community Enterprise Partners, a nonprofit affordable housing organization in Washington, D.C.
He is survived by his wife, Constance Doty, and three brothers, Steven, Laurence and Peter. A public memorial service is being planned.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.